First victory lightens the mood for the Lakers

Coach Mike Brown likes what he sees of his Lakers on Sunday in their first victory of the season. He says their early-season struggles will help them later on in the season. MARK J. TERRILL, AP

EL SEGUNDO - The mood at the Lakers' training facility was understandably a bit brighter Monday, one day after notching their first victory.

The Lakers' 108-79 drubbing of the Detroit Pistons not only improved their record to 1-3, but seemingly gave the team a psychological boost.

Dwight Howard came out of the training room after Monday's light practice with a huge smile and declared that Sunday's lopsided victory was "the best thing ever, we got a win."

Even Coach Mike Brown, who rarely is seen without a smile, seemed happier with his team's one-game turnaround.

"It's not a sigh of relief for me," Brown said. "It's just a thing to help us to believe."

Brown said he realized that with so many new players, the Lakers could hit rough spots as the team learned the offense and each other's names.

"I thought we would get bumped in the head a few times, and make sure we handled adversity the right way because that it would make us stronger later," Brown said. "It might be tough to go through now, but it's going to make us stronger later when we are in a tough seven-game series and we drop two in a row."

One victory – against a lesser opponent – didn't erase all the Lakers' flaws, but did give fans a glimpse of what could be in store.

The Lakers shot 51.9 percent from the floor, including 45.4 percent from the 3-point line, and turned the ball over only 15 times. The defense also held the Pistons to 35.4 percent shooting.

Brown said he thought the team would be a consistently well-running unit by January. Howard said you couldn't put a date on chemistry.

"You can't put a number on it," he said. "We just got to continue to play better with every game. We just watched film – some of the bigs – to see what we can do to improve on offense and defense.

"We're just gong to continue to get better. ... The more we talk and communicate and get to know each other's game, we'll be a lot better."

Howard said he hopes the team's mood can remain upbeat even through losses.

"You have to keep it light, but at the same time we know what our goal is," Howard said. "We have to keep each other accountable if we want to win the championship. But we also have to enjoy what we do.

"This is a great life, playing in L.A. for the Lakers and playing something that we love. So why not have fun doing it?"

KOBE, NASH SIT

Neither Kobe Bryant nor Steve Nash took part in the Lakers' non-contact scrimmage Monday. Both received treatment after the team watched film of Sunday's victory and did a walk through.

Brown said Bryant didn't further aggravate his strained right foot after scoring 15 points in 32 minutes against Detroit.

Nash, who suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula, could be out a week, 10 days or a month depending on several reports. The veteran point guard was injured Wednesday when he was kneed during the Portland game and has missed the past two games.

The Lakers officially are saying Nash will be out a week, but other publications claim he will miss either the next 7-10 days or 3-4 weeks.

Brown said Sunday he will not hurry Nash back, which could "compromise his long-term health. ... We'll just wait and play it out from there."

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